


Players' pride

by TryAgain_FailAgain_FailBetter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bets & Wagers, F/M, Humor, One Shot, Quidditch, Romance, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 15:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11716953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TryAgain_FailAgain_FailBetter/pseuds/TryAgain_FailAgain_FailBetter
Summary: OS - Draco found himself a new nemesis on the pitch. But he is not one to give up easily. And it turns out, Charity Blake ain't either. A quidditch game, a bet. Read if you want to know more.





	Players' pride

** Players' pride **

      Since the threat of Voldemort had been definitely eradicated by the Order a year before, during the Triwizard tournament, the famous Harry Potter had decided to completely focus on his passion - that is Quidditch. So many people had fought for him, had died for him, he knew the best homage he could give them was to simply be happy, to live and enjoy life as much as he could. At 15, the brunette was taking a fresh start. No more pressure, no more waiting…he could be a normal teenager now and he couldn't be happier.  
His co-players, on the other side, weren’t so pleased. Harry had decided to become a professional Quidditch player and therefore didn't spare his teammates. The Gryffindor captain multiplied the training sessions (to the great displeasure of Hermione who there saw an obstacle to their studies) and had even planned a few "friendly" games against the Slytherins.  
"A training against dirty tricks", he had justified himself proudly.

       It was actually for one of those special games that the players were currently gearing up. There was nothing official here, nothing was at stake, not even points for the cup, yet students and teachers had all rushed towards the bleachers as soon as they had heard about the game. The reason to this enthusiasm? Well, simply because, official or not, a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game always promised some surprises and unexpected developments. Always.  
And this game was definitely no exception to the rule.

     Despite rather high temperatures for early May, every player gave the best of himself. Draco Malfoy, seeker and captain of the Slytherins, kept yelling at his teammates and pushing them to do everything in their power. Everything was allowed to win against Potter! Everything, including eliminating that fucking beater who kept them from scoring. Charity Blake, the new Gryffindor beater, had blocked every single attack of the Slytherins. No player could go past her without risking taking a bludger in his head.  
After one hour and not a single point (thank you Blake…), Draco decided to take things in hands. He was to find the snitch, take it right under Potter's nose and give the victory to his house. That was a promise.

            The blond quickly spotted the snitch. Flying slowly under the south bleachers, the tiny golden ball shone slightly under the sun's rays. Drago peeked at Harry who actually had his back to him. He seized the occasion to launch himself full speed after the snitch. A high-speed pursuit ensued under the bleachers, Drago avoiding each beam with care. He might not be as fast as Potter but he was more agile which allowed him to keep a respectable distance between him and the Gryffindor who was now after him. They quickly came back on the field, now slaloming between the players. The snitch was so close Drago started to hold his hand. Potter was still behind. It was his victory, he knew it, he could feel it. He stretched his fingers. Only a few millimeters left. He could feel the wings brushing his skin. He hold his hand once more and … swerve on the left, stabilization of the broom, analysis of the situation…  
Potter now had the snitch in his hand.  
Gryffindor had won.  
What the hell happened?

Draco looked around him. Charity was flying slowly toward him, a bludger under her arm and a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Too bad Malfoy, you were so close… for once!" She laughed seeing how frustrated Draco was and left.

  
Draco quickly recovered and rushed back into the locker room.

"We lost because of Blake" an angry little blond girl cried.

"I know."

"She threw a bludger right at you when you were to catch the snitch," the girl continued, her hands moving as if she was trying to reproduce the scene.

"I know." He said between gritted teeth.

"So what now?"

"Now, she’s gonna pay."

Drago picked up his stuff, slammed the door and left the locker room as fast as he had arrived.

 

XxXxXxX

 

A few weeks later, Harry was surprised to see Draco come to him, asking for a new friendly game.  
The predatory smile on Draco's face should have worried Harry but he, kind and innocent Harry, only saw the opportunity to improve his team's technic. The brunette was a perfectionist and despite their last win, he had noticed a few weaknesses on the left wing and in one of his chaser's technic. That's why he naively accepted the blonde's offer.

The game took place the following week-end.  
For more than an hour, the two teams engaged in a relentless battle. No one spared no effort, no one slowed down the pace despite the growing heat. Goals came one after the other on both sides and only the snitch could decide between them now. As soon as the golden ball showed up, the two captains flew away full speed, risking a fatal fall every directional change.    
At one point, the tiny ball started slowing down and swirled docilely in the middle of the stadium. That was it. In the bleachers, the supporters stopped yelling. They all had eyes on the two seekers.  
As he was only a few inches away from the snitch, Draco caught a glimpse of a bludger coming right at him. He smiled. He had spent the week preparing that movement. He had trained only for that precise moment. In a fluid movement, he quickly pivoted his broom, hitting the bludger in the process and throwing it back to his launcher with twice its original speed.  
He could have resume racing for the snitch after that but he wasn't here for that today. Nope, today he hadn't played against Potter. Today, it was him against Blake. He observed the brown-haired girl as she barely avoided the bludger. He'd won. A large smile spread across his face. He'd definitely won.

In the middle of the pitch, the Gryffindor was miffed. He had caught her at her own game. Malfoy had caught her at her own game! She was gutted. Her feint, the one no one could ever block, the one that made her team won – her feint had just been diverted by Malfoy. Worse, he had turned it against her…

The brunette didn't even react when Ginny jumped on her back to celebrate their victory. Instead, she stared at Draco who was still in the air and the blonde could see all he wanted to see: anger, a lot of anger.  
Content with himself, he slowly got to the ground. He had given her a taste of her own medicine. He had proved her that he was the best.

 

XxXxXxX

 

As every Thursday afternoon, Draco was leading his team to the Quidditch pitch for a training session. He slowed his pace down when he saw a silhouette at the back of the pitch. Long brown curls, a feminine but sports figure, an enraged throw – it didn't take long for Draco to guess the intruder's identity. He smiled. Black must have been so pissed off after he stopped her bludger that she came to train, again and again. _"So Gryffindor-ish"_ he blonde thought. From where he stood, he could see the brunette working on her accuracy skills right now. She was throwing her bludger on targets more than 30 meters away. " _Impressive."_  
Draco ended his contemplation by sending his team in the air so that they could train as well. They hadn't won a single game against Gryffindor this year, and that, that wasn't good at all!

After an hour of shooting, turning, speeding up and slaloming, the green and silver players got to the ground completely worn out. Usually, Draco would send them back quickly with a simple dirty look. But not today. "Go back to the castle and rest." The quidditch players didn't need to be told twice. They gathered their equipment and disappeared in the locker room.  
As for Draco, he headed toward the Gryffindor who hadn't once stopped training. Not that he had kept an eye on her, not at all. But Gryffindor were known to be tenacious, and Blake definitely responded to this characteristic.  

The blonde stopped a few meters behind her and quietly observed her shots. Charity seized a new bludger, swang her arm back and throw the leather ball with all her strength.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, not even turning to look at him.  Draco smiled.

"A Quidditch game. You and me."

She placed the bludger she was to throw under her arm and turned slowly, her eyes suspicious "Why?"

"To decide who's the best"

She snorted "I already know I'm better than you, Malfoy and I don't need to crush you, again" she emphasized, "to prove it."

They exchanged an amused look. "Alright," he said, "then you'll do it just because you want to."

"Mmm, not good enough a reason. You know, there's a lot of things I wanna do, like kicking your snobbish asses for example, but I, contrary to you, know how to restrain myself."

Draco laughed "Yeah I can see that. And what about an interesting stake?"

"I've been here for a year now, Malfoy, and people have a lot to say about you guys Slytherin but there is only one thing everyone agrees on: never bet against a Slytherin!”

"And me who though you were different, listening to your instinct rather than drinking in others' words"

"I am"

"Prove it then," he said, a smirk on his face.

"Fine. You wana play? Let's play. But if I win you'll have to put aside your crappy Malfoy principles that you care about so deeply"

The blonde seemed to weight up the pros and cons for a sec "I can do it", he said eventually. “Deal!" He hold his hand to finalize their accord.

"I may be impulsive but I'm not stupid, Malfoy. What do YOU want?"

"Weasel? He likes you right?"

"So I've heard…"

"And you seem delighted with it. I guess it won't be a problem for you to turn him down when he tries to flirt with you, then. Publicly, of course"

"No way, Malfoy, I'm not doing this, he's a friend."

"Too bad. So you'll admit that I win, that I am the best, the strongest, the…"

"Yeah yeah I got it, Malfoy, and it won't happen" she said, putting her hand in his and shaking it. The pact was signed and there was no turning back now.

They got on their respective brooms and left the ground. For it to be fair, they decided to take the positions neither of them were trained for: chaser and keeper.  
They were so focused on their objective that nothing could distract them: not the oppressive heat, not the sun declining behind the castle, not even the cramps in their tights and arms. They played for hours and only got to the ground when they breathings were so short it hurt. For a fight, it was one hell of a fight! And they now both had a steep bill ahead of them…. Charity had lost two games while the blond had lost three of them. The Gryffindor could have claim victory but she didn’t. She knew the following days would be the more complicated, the ones that will truly matter. She’ll have to turn Ron down twice and she didn’t know if she was capable of that. But, oh well, the good side of things was that Malfoy was to go against Daddy’s principles and he would have to do this three times! That was to be interesting.

 

XxXxXxX

 

            As soon as the following morning, Draco completed his first challenge. He, usually so elegantly dressed in the pure wizard tradition, came to breakfast wearing low-cut faded jeans and a white shirt with three buttons left open. Icing on the cake: he had kept his hair free of any gelling substance.  
When he passed the entry doors, silence took over the entire room. People were gaping, rubbing their eyes, pinching themselves in order to make sure they were not still dreaming. Draco Malfoy, the one and only heir of Lucius Malfoy, defender of the blood hierarchy, was wearing muggle clothes and let’s be honest, he wore them well.

Charity managed to catch Draco before their first class and dragged him into an empty corridor.

“Really? How is this prejudicial to you? You just got yourself 20 more girls waiting in front of your door. At least! , ” the brunette said clearly annoyed.

"Um…let me think…maybe the fact that my father would disinherit me straight away if he only but heard of this is good enough a prejudice. Don’t you think?” the blond responded in his usual drawl.

“Yeah… well that’s quite hypothetical, don’t you think? The girls’ queue on the other hand…”

Draco laughed and came closer to the brunette, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Oy, don’t be jealous, Blake. One day, maybe, you’ll have the chance to take a look at what’s underneath this amazing shirt!”

She brushed his hand away and smirked “Sure, and it’s not like half the school has already seen it.”

“Er…Ouch?” Draco said while making a fake hurt face. It was too much for Charity who burst out of laughter, quickly followed by the blond himself.  “Anyway,” the Slytherin managed to say after he calmed down, “now it’s your turn to show me what you can do.”

 

XxXxXxX

 

Charity had looked at the problem from all angles all morning – to the great displeasure of her teachers who couldn’t get her attention. But, for now, the brunette had more important stuff than classes on her mind. Of course, she wanted to win this bet and shut Malfoy’s trap once and for all, but not if it meant hurting her friend. Ron might be taxing sometimes but he remained a friend – and a loyal one.  
That was a hard choice.

Charity had been so lost in her thoughts that she was late for lunch. She swore for form and hurtled down the stairs. When she finally made it to the great hall, students had already started eating and were chatting happily. She slowed down and scrutinized the Gryffindor table, looking for an empty seat. And an empty seat she found. Next to Ron… Great, she thought bitterly.  
She smiled to her friends and sat down. As soon as Ron saw her, he emptied his mouth and shot her a bright smile. He was to engaged conversation when Charity engulfed a fork full of macaroni. She was so not ready right now.

But the, she felt it. This look on her. She raised her head and her eyes caught Draco’s own metallic orbs. They stared at each other for a while before Drago smiled and silently articulated “I’m the best.” Charity frowned and straightened up. She’d be doomed if she ever let him win so easily.

“Hey Ron,” she said to engage conversation. “Have you heard about the next trop to Hogsmeade?”

“Heu…yeah” The red head replied with red cheeks and starry eyes. His voice was so full of hope, Charity hesitated. But one glance at Malfoy and she knew what she had to do. It was now or never.

“You know,” she started with a firm yet sweet voice, “I really wanna do something special this time and… you’re a great friend so I wanted to know…” she stopped for a second making sure the Gryffindors around them were listening, waiting for the verdict “what do you think of Anthony Goldstein? I’d like to ask him to come with me, he’s so cute and smart but I don’t know if he likes me. What d’ya think?” She finished with a high-pitched and silly voice. She had seen Lavender using that voice a few times… or a hundred. At any rate, it definitely had the desired effect. Ron’s face was redder than tomato sauce and he was stammering like crazy. A few people had started laughing and even Ginny and Hermione had difficulties not giggling. Quickly enough, the word spread and the entire school knew about it.

As for Charity, well, she didn’t really know what to do now. She surely didn’t want to laugh but she didn’t feel sorry either. After all, she didn’t like Ron that way. He was just a friend and maybe Draco’s little game would finally make it clear for Ron.

 

XxXxXxXxX

 

Both Slytherins and Gryffindors had charm after lunch.

Perched on a pile of books, Flitwick was writing indications for a new spell on the board when a continuous buzzing made him stop. He frowned and turned around, looking for the source of the noise. His small eyes landed on two Slytherins engaged in a certainly not discreet conversation.

“Mister Malfoy, Mister Zabini, Am I interrupting you?” the professor said, clearly annoyed.

“No Sir, it’s okay but thanks for your concern.” The blonde said with a big smile and a honeyed voice. Every head shot up and stared at the blonde. Even Blaise’s eyes had bulged with surprise. Draco Malfoy, the perfect student, always listening, always quiet and always oh so ass-licker had just mocked his teacher without any hesitation.

“I hope, you were at least discussing the spell, Mister Malfoy?”

“Not at all, professor. Actually, we were debating the way Mister Weasley got nicely turned down this morning. What a show! You should have seen that, professor!”

“I saw, Mister Malfoy, I saw.” Flitwick answered. “And even though it wasn’t very…glorious, I would say, I don’t think this is the place or time to discuss this.”

“Okay”

“Okay”. Upon these words of wisdom, Flitwick went back to his board, leaving behind him a stunned classroom, a red-headed on the verge of having a stroke and an all smile blonde. Charity managed to catch Draco’s eyes and the Slytherin just blinked to her. He hadn’t even lost a single house point! Friggin’ angel face!

 

XxXxXxXxX

 

For a long day, that was a long day. Curfew must be close. Charity sighed one more time - she was exhausted. She took a right turn and could finally see the Fat Lady at the end of the corridor. Relief was near. Soon enough she’d be in her room, in her bed, tightly wrapped in her blanket, away from all trouble and stress. She was to say the password when the door opened from the inside.

“Ron?” she asked surprised.

“Hey, Charity.” He replied, clearly ill at ease.

Inside the common room, Charity could hear people laughing their way upstairs “That was hilarious!”, “and have you seen his face?!” “she played him bad”. The brunette looked at her feet and swallowed.

“I’m sorry, Ron, I…I mean it’s not what I wanted, It’s…”

“No it’s okay. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault.” The Gryffindor muttered.

“What?” Charity almost shouted. “Of course, it’s not okay, Ron! Your friends are making fun of you because of me. How can you say it’s okay?” Goodbye tiredness and tranquility, hello anger. As for Ron, he looked like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him all. He rubbed his neck awkwardly.

“Well, I don’t know… it’s just that…” he blushed and it was his turn to look at his feet.

“What, Ron? It’s just what? Is it because you like me? Is that it? You think that, just because you like me, your friends can put you down and you don’t have to say anything? For Merlin’s sake, this is so stupid.”

“I… How do you…You”

“Yes, Ron, I know you like me. The entire school knows you like me!” A few second and third years who were staying up late playing exploding snap had gathered behind the half-closed door. Surely, Charity’s yelling had caught their attention.

“But if you knew, then… Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Ron, it’s…” she glanced at the indiscreet kids behind them and breathed out noisily. It was now or never. The bet ended now. “I don’t like you, Ron. That’s it, I said it! We’re friends, end of the story.”

Ron’s mouth opened and closed several times but no sound would come out of it. Charity didn’t wait for it to come, she just started running the other way. She hurtled down some stairs, turned several times and ran again. She ran until she came face to face with a door and started knocking on it as hard as she could.

“What the? What’s wrong with you? It’s past midnight, some people are sleeping!” was the only greeting she received. But she didn’t care.

“I did it Malfoy. I did it, I won!”

Said Malfoy just rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of any sign of tiredness or unconsciousness. “By Merlin, what you’re talking about?”

“Ron! Are you listening to what I’m saying?”

“It’s late, okay” he drawled. “Some people happen to sleep at night, Blake, so excuse me if I don’t understand what you’re blaring at me right now.”

“Well, then I’m gonna make it simple for you, Grandpa Malfoy: I told Ron I didn’t like him. I made it crystal clear. I turned him down. Thus, I won the bet. I’m the best. Clear enough for you?” With her bright smile, she looked like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. Draco shook his head. He wasn’t sure everything was clear, however, he understood he had lost. And he didn’t like that. At all.

“You really told him, you didn’t like him back?” he asked carefully.

“Yes,” she replied nodding enthusiastically. What a kid!

“You were straightforward?”

“Yep.”

“You told him he was a total loser?”

“No Malfoy! You think that, not me!”

“Whatever. But there were witnesses, right? We’re gonna hear about it tomorrow?”

“Yeah. There were second and third years listening to us.”

This time, it was Draco’s turn to laugh. A real, loud laugh. “Really Blake? You honestly think a few baby griffins are gonna blab about the Savior’s pathetic bestie? Do they even know what it means to be turned down by a girl?”

“I don’t give a damn, Malfoy, it counts” the brunette replied, her arms crossed on her chest. He was not going to take the victory from her. She won’t let him.

“No”

“Yes”

“No”

“You’re a real pain in my ass, Malfoy!” She turned around and left. No more smile on her pretty face, no more stars in her bright eyes, just a sulky pout.

“Good night, Charity. Say hi to Ron for me if you see him!” The only answer he got what a single finger in the air that got him smiling even more.

 

XxXxXxXxX

 

            The following day was less turbulent. Ron was avoiding Charity like the plague, causing his classmates to be slightly dumbfounded. It surely was not common. As for the brunette, she kept to herself, trying to plan her next move in order to win the bet. But that was kinda hard all with Ron avoiding her. So, instead, she dedicated her free time to curse Malfoy’s descendants on ten generations. He was the only one to blame here. He had no right to invalidate what she had done.

The Slytherin was also below the radar that day. Contrary to what Charity had thought, he didn’t make a single comment about Ron and what he knew. Everything was calm. But things never stayed long that way at Hogwarts.

While diner was coming to its end, Draco headed to the Gryffindor’s table. He walked straight to Charity.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” he asked. His voice was firm and low but it lacked its usual dangerousness.

“Hum.. yeah sure.” The brunette stood, ready to follow him outside the Great Hall but apparently, the Slytherin had other plans. He stepped back just enough to have some privacy but they were still in the middle of the great hall, with lots of eyes already on them. Charity frowned – even if their exchanges had improved lately, they had never talked to each other in public. That was… weird.

“I have a question regarding my last mission” the blonde continued.

“Mission? You think we’re in a James Bond or what?” The blonde raised an eyebrow at the unknown muggle reference but didn’t stop.

“Call it as you want. The thing is I got an idea but I’d like you to tell me if it’s okay or not before I put myself on a show for nothing.”

“Well, that’s kind of unfair after what I did. But, you piqued my curiosity. What is it?”

“Isdatingagryffindorokay?”

“What?” She pulled a face. “I didn’t get a thing, Draco”

The blonde raised his head after hearing his name. He could do it. “Dating a Gryffindor. Like, for a few days, a few hours, well, a Gryffindor?”

Charity snickered. He looked damn serious. “You can try but hum… she’d have to accept and in case you forgot, you’re not very popular around here.” The blonde looked at the dining table next to him and if a look could kill then he’s be long dead. Yep, they still hated him. But let’s be honest, he liked things that way.

“Well… I’ll still try my luck.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

With that, Draco walked closer to Charity. She smiled but didn’t step back.

“Don’t even think about it, Malfoy.”

“Too late,” he said with a shy smile before kissing her. It was not brutal nor passionate, just a slow, sweet and perfect kiss. And most importantly, a kiss she responded to. After all, she was young and had nothing to lose. Well, maybe the respect of some fellow Gryffindors but, she could deal with that. The blonde brought her back to the kiss by nibbling her lower lip. “I forgot to tell you, I’m rather possessive so you better get rid of the red head before something bad happens to him.” She just nodded amused by that typical Malfoy-ish remark. He pecked her lips one last time and started his way out of the Great Hall.

Charity intended on simply going back to her meal as if nothing special had happened but was stopped by Ron.

“Have you lost your mind? He must have poisonned you, or put a spell on you, bloody hell we gotta take you to Pomfrey. Harry, Hermione, help me!”

“No, Ron!” said Charity between gritted teeth. Enough was enough “Can’t you stop? Draco didn’t poison me. He didn’t do anything.” She glanced at the blonde who had stopped at the entrance doors and was now looking at them intently. “Some people don’t need any magical assistance to appeal to somebody. Contrary to others.” she finished bitterly. She knew she was to regret those last words but she didn’t care right now. If he didn’t want to understand, she’d make him understand. And she had a bet to win. She was not giving up.

She passed a few Gryffindors glaring at her, ignored the Slytherins laughing at Ron and went straight to Draco who hadn’t moved an inch. She caught his arm on her way out and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. If anyone told her it didn’t count, there would be blood. When the doors closed behind them, she pulled away dragging a groan from the blonde.

“Drop the act, Malfoy. We’re alone.”

“So? When you start something, you finish it, Blake.”

“You’re unbelievable,” she laughed

“Whatever…” he was pouting.

Charity bit her lower lip “You know Draco,” he looked at her. Every time she said his name, he felt something weird inside. Probably because no one had ever said his name like that. There was no hatred, no submission, no disdain… Just his name in its simplest way, the most beautiful as well. “you seem to be a…. tolerable person when we get to know you.”

“Tolerable?” he asked, faking despair. “And me who wanted to maintain my bad reputation…”

Charity laughed one more time. “You wish! Anyway… about… this,” she gestured toward them and the Great Hall, “people are gonna talk for a while but in a few days, they’ll get bored. And you and I can go back to our lives.”

“Wait? Are you dumping me?” Charity was confused. Was he serious about that? But then his shocked expression just turned into a devilish grin. “Have you seen your face? Damn.”

“Asshole” she said and roughly hit his shoulder with her fist. They both burst out of laughter, like the two teenagers they were. The doors opened and students started flooding the corridors. “See you around, Mister tolerable. Oh and by the way, I won!” Charity said smiling before disappearing in the crowd.

 

THE END

 

 

 


End file.
